At the start
of the year we faced the prospect of the Government removing black historical
figures, Mary Seacole (voted No 1 black Briton) and Olaudah Equiano from the
school history curriculum.
But in just
a few weeks, through the efforts of a campaign team including Simon
Woolley of Operation Black Vote, Cllr Lester Holloway, Cllr Patrick Vernon, Khi Rafe, Professor
Elizabeth Anionwu, Juliet Alexander and myself with the backing of 36,000 members of the
public we have succeeded in not just ensuring that Seacole and Equiano remain
on the curriculum but upgrading them from the notes meaning they were optional
to the main curriculum.
Secretary of
State for Education, Michael Gove was placed under increasing pressure from the
outrage expressed by campaigners, politicians, trade unions, those working in education, community groups,
well known personalities and the general public, reported on
an almost daily basis by the media.
The
curriculum now proposed includes in Key Stage 3 the following aspects of black history;
- · The slave trade and the abolition of slavery
- · The role of Olaudah Equiano and free slaves.
- · Britain’s retreat from Empire, including the independence for India and the Wind of Change in Africa
- · The independence generation – Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, Kenyatta, Nkrumah
- · The Windrush generation, wider new Commonwealth immigration, and the arrival of East African Asians.
·
Mary Seacole is including in the changing role of
women alongside Florence Nightingale who was also threatened with removal.
·
The
Race Relations Act is included in society and social reform as is legalisation
of abortion and homosexuality.
Also
included is;
- · Nazi atrocities in occupied Europe and the evil of the Holocaust
- · The suffragette movement and womens emancipation
- · The Tolpuddle Martyrs and the birth of trade unionism
The importance of equality is highlighted as follows;
‘The
Equality Act 2010 requires the Government to have due regard to the need to
eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good
relations. The content of the curriculum is not specifically covered by the Act
but we have been determined, throughout this process, to ensure that our
polices make opportunities more equal for every child.
One of the
key objectives of the National Curriculum review has been to ensure that all
pupils, irrespective of background or circumstance, should have the opportunity
to acquire the essential knowledge and skills that they need to succeed in
life. We want to ‘democratise knowledge’ by ensuring that as many children as
possible can lay claim to a rich intellectual inheritance.’
This means
allowing the National Curriculum to be taught in ways that enable all pupils to
have an equal opportunity to succeed. The new programmes of study give teachers
greater scope to tailor their teaching in ways that help to meet the particular
needs of all pupils.’
Whilst this
is a clear victory we should not be complacent. There are many periods of black history that are not included and numerous other black
historical figures that our children would benefit from learning about as well as other historical figures to ensure diversity. The consultation paper needs to be examined in detail to identify any detrimental changes from the existing curriculum and any aspects of history that have been left out. It's important for individuals and organisations to take the time to read through the proposals and respond
to the consultation. The final curriculum is something we all have an interest in. It impacts on our children, grandchildren, students and the next generation of school children. All children, black and white, benefit from knowing the truth about history and knowing about a broad range of historical figures and periods of history to inspire them but also so that they can learn from the past.
The
consultation runs until 16th of April and the consultation documents can be
accessed here:
The U-turn
by Government demonstrates the impact we can have when we all stand together in
large numbers but the struggle continues and we all still have a part to play.
My thanks go
to the campaign team I had the honour to be a part of, all who signed the open
letter to Michael Gove in the Times headed by the Rev Jesse Jackson, everyone
who signed the petition, the MPs who signed the Early Day Motion, the trade
unions and other organisations who backed the campaign, the media for giving
us rolling coverage of the campaign and many more who offered their expertise or worked behind the scenes to broaden awareness and help the campaign grow.
We should
both celebrate this victory and draw courage, strength and determination from the
success of asserting our collective people power to continue the fight for a strong, balanced and diverse curriculum and for the battles that lay ahead
– not least the impact of cuts, discrimination and injustice on us, our
families and communities. Whilst it is right that we defend what we have, if what we have is not sufficient we must at the same time as defending fight for improvements.
Zita
Holbourne, Mary Seacole Campaign, Co-chair BARAC UK, PCS NEC
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